A senior citizen couple is facing eviction from their apartment based on a technicality in Beverly Hills’ rent stabilization ordinance, the City Council learned Tuesday. Speaking on behalf of Parker and Jean West, attorney and former Beverly Hills Mayor Mark Egerman detailed the couple’s struggle to keep their apartment at 420 S. Doheny Drive after nearly 24 years of residency. Egerman, who was accompanied by the couple at the podium in Council Chambers, urged council members to “study the issue to ensure that ordinances enacted to protect senior citizens on limited income are not circumvented in any way.” The Wests have fought a legal battle with two property owners since 2009, Egerman said. In the latest round of legal wrangling, the property owners have issued an eviction notice centered around the issue of “comparability.” After recent renovations added a bathroom to the couple’s unit and additional kitchen space to a neighboring apartment, there is a lack of comparability, the owners claimed. This negates the couple’s rent-control standing under the city’s rent stabilization ordinance, paving the way for the current owners to move into the disputed unit. City Attorney Larry Wiener said his office and other city staff personnel are studying the issue and will make a determination on the matter in “several days” or “several weeks.” Council members agreed to put the issue on their next meeting agenda for further public discussion. The next council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21. “Mr. and Mrs. West, we are so sorry for your predicament, and as a city we take this responsibility very seriously so you will have our full, undivided attention,” Mayor Barry Brucker said. B e sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . The rest is here: Council Hears Plight of Rent Control Tenants Facing Eviction

Torie Osborn doesn’t seem too upset about the pretty nasty outburst West Hollywood Mayor John Duran made at last Wednesday’s West Hollywood-Beverly Hills Democratic Club endorsement meeting in Weho. In fact, Osborn is now asking viewers of the video showing Duran’s interruption to pay up. A recent campaign email titled “VIRAL VIDEO: WeHo Mayor Threatens Me” includes the tagline, “Click here to see the video—and help us turn this shocking incident into a campaign opportunity,” linking directly to Osborn’s ActBlue fundraising page . Next to the embedded YouTube clip, a message on the page reads: “Watch the video on the right, and then donate $3 below to help us fight these attacks and advance our grassroots momentum!” By the time the 50th Assembly District candidate won the endorsement—at the end of the nearly three-hour meeting last week—Duran could no longer contain his frustration. Storming out, he said, “West Hollywood will not forget this,” plus a few choice words. Osborn told Patch after the meeting: “We’re in it to win it. I have a grass-roots army that’s working with me. … People joining clubs in order to vote for who they vote for is part of the grass roots. It just is part of the tactics. People do it all the time. I’m proud of my troops.” A representative from Osborn’s campaign did not immediately respond for an updated comment. Beverly Hills is joining the newly created 50th Assembly District in the November 2012 election due to redistricting. Until then the city is represented by Mike Feuer as part of the 42nd Assembly District. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Read this article: AD 50 Candidate Osborn Lures Donors With Weho Mayor’s Outburst Video

If you love Zooey Deschanel , nostalgia, television, and lady-friendly jokes, then chances are that you’re a fan of HelloGiggles . The rest is here: Local Heroes: Sophia Rossi of HelloGiggles Calls Beverly Hills Home

The Beverly Hills City Council is encouraging residents to attend Thursday’s meeting about the future of the Roxbury Park Community Center . The meeting takes place at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 455 N. Rexford Drive. Two hours of free parking is available in the city lot across the street next to the Beverly Hills Public Library. At its Dec. 6 meeting, the council unanimously rejected the bids that were submitted for the community center’s construction because they went over the $14.7 million that has been budgeted for the project. The purpose of the project is to modernize the facility and includes: a multipurpose room that can function as a gym community meeting rooms a small satellite library a kitchen for the senior nutrition program an exercise room staff offices and other spaces for the community upgrades to the maintenance building and yard an expanded parking lot drainage improvements a fire lane for fire-truck access to the park landscaping Council members agreed to reconsider the project through public feedback meetings led by the Recreation and Parks Liaison Committee, which includes Vice Mayor William Brien and Councilman Julian Gold. “We’ll get this right—something that is safe and clean, and of Beverly Hills quality,” Brien said when the council voted in December to reject the submitted contractor bids. “I can tell you right now, the existing facility is none of those three.” Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Read this article: Roxbury Park Community Center Meeting Is Tonight

Hooray for improvements in how we can work, live, and hang out in Hollywood. Right? The Hollywood Community Plan , which is about to go before the L.A. City Council for approval, has the support of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. more › See the original post: Hollywood Community Plan Proposes Building Up, But Is It What the Neighborhood Needs?

In an effort to make traveling through the Westside easier, the transportation committee of the Westside Cities Council of Government (WSCCOG) met Monday to discuss ways to support bicycling in the area. The WSCCOG is a collaboration between the cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, West Hollywood and Santa Monica as well as Westside portions of Los Angeles and unincorporated Los Angeles County. In attendance were the three elected officials on the committee: Councilmember Jeff Cooper of Culver City, Councilmember John Heilman of West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills Vice Mayor Dr. William Brien. The meeting also included WSCCOG Executive Director Maria Rychlicki, staff members from the member communities, a representative from the Federal Highway Administration and members of Angelenos Against Gridlock and Better Bike. Rychlicki said the WSCCOG unites the otherwise autonomous cities so they can take advantage of opportunities as a sub-region. Among the topics discussed Monday was closing the gaps in bike lanes created when they pass through multiple cities. An example given was a bike lane on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood that stops when it reaches Beverly Hills and resumes in Los Angeles. “The cyclist gets on the road and suddenly the bicycle lane drops off the planet,” Rychlicki said. The committee is working on identifying five bike routes to improve based on project feasibility, safety and connecting as many member communities as possible. In addition to closing the gaps between cities, the committee will recommend signage to help riders find the bike lanes. Possible areas to improve include the bike lane on Santa Monica Boulevard and a north-south route into Culver City, perhaps on Beverly Drive. The committee is also studying a bike-sharing program based on those used in Washington, D.C., and Paris, where participants check out bikes to use in different parts of the city in an effort to close the so-called “last mile” between public transportation and user destinations. The committee discussed the best ways to implement such a program in the Westside. “It’s essential that, in whatever program we develop, somebody can get a bike in West Hollywood, ride to Santa Monica, drop it off there and then, if they wanted, get a bike in Culver City and ride back to West Hollywood,” West Hollywood Councilmember Heilman said. The committee will discuss these plans further at its next meeting, which Rychlicki said may be scheduled before Christmas. The committee’s recommendations will be brought to the entire COG board in January for a vote on whether to adopt them as formal recommendations for the member communities. See the original post here: Westside COG Considers Biking Projects

Dr. William Brien was elected to the City Council in 2009 and is now serving his rotation as the vice mayor. Before that he was on the Recreation and Parks Commission and Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education. Civic duties aside, Brien is an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He is the hospital’s executive vice chairman of the department of surgery and the director of the Cedars-Sinai Orthopedic Center. He is also a former Cedars-Sinai chief of staff. A lifelong Beverly Hills resident, Brien attended Hawthorne and Beverly Hills High. His four children have also attended city schools. Patch recently met with the vice mayor for some coffee and conversation. In part one of our interview with Brien, we discussed the Joint Powers Agreement and negotiations with the school board, the possibility of a subway tunnel going under the city’s only high school and future plans regarding the pensions of Beverly Hills employees. Beverly Hills Patch: What is the status of the latest Joint Powers Agreement , a four-year contract in which the city pays the school district for access to school facilities? Vice Mayor William Brien: The end goal is to come up with a funding formula that can be supportive of the schools and also makes sense for the city. I don’t think the concept of major reductions that meet the other percentages of reductions we’ve had will occur. We recognize the value of the school facilities and also the need that the school kids and district have. What the final funding number will be, I don’t know yet. We need to sit down and get into some of the details with the school district … what their expectations are … in terms of access and use, and what’s going to be available. But I don’t foresee major reductions in this. And certainly we’ll work together to protect the kids in this district … that’s really what we want to make sure we do here. Patch: What are the city’s next steps in opposing a Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway tunnel from going under Beverly Hills High School ? Brien: The reviews that came out basically said [Metro staff] believe that there was a significant safety risk on Santa Monica Boulevard , and there was not a significant safety risk from an earthquake—in geotechnical and seismologic standpoints—from going under the high school. The staff will make their recommendation to the [Metro board of directors] and I’m sure their recommendation will be under the high school. Then it will be up to the Metro board members to decide whether or not they believe that that’s the right thing to do or not. And we’ll see what they have to say on that. I think from the standpoint of the city and school district, I believe that all of us have been unanimous in opposing the subway going under Beverly Hills High School. I believe that there is a reasonable alternative still on Santa Monica. I don’t know whether it’s unsafe or less safe, and whether or not something can be built structurally sound and made as safe with additional dollars if it goes down Santa Monica. I think those are the things that we need to look at. If it’s totally unsafe on Santa Monica, I would not support building it in that area. Patch: Will the City Council and the BHUSD school board join together in an effort to stop Metro from tunneling under BHHS? Brien: I think that we as a city and a school district need to put aside the past rhetoric —because that’s what it was—and actually start looking at the science that was put out and see whether or not the reports are scientifically accurate, factual and really represent the risk or not to the Santa Monica alignment. I think that that’s our job to do now. We actually have data and I’ve said from the beginning I want to see the data. I want to look at this in a scientific way and I want to make that assessment—still opposing going under the high school—but I wanted to see that data and I think that that’s the way you make good decisions. I think that the rhetoric was dismissive and unfortunately unnecessary, and yet we were all saying we don’t want it under the high school. Just some of our voices were not being heard no matter how many times we said that. In the end we now will put together a working group. Council member [Lili] Bosse and I will be looking at this and we will be reaching out to the school board and they will decide who’s going to liaison with us, if they want to liaison with us, and then we’re going to come up with a plan to jointly review [Metro’s] information, I hope. I think the community needs to be able to understand our assessment of Metro’s data. Then we’ll be able to better assess what our options are, whether the final EIR [Environmental Impact Report] is appropriate or not and if there are issues, demand that those issues be addressed. Patch: How much money is Beverly Hills willing to spend to stop a subway from going under the high school? Brien: When you look at these types of issues, No. 1, you identify what your options are. And our options are, not being the decision maker, to oppose things. You have to look at the rationale of how you’re going to oppose that and what is the most successful way by which you can win. Some of that may be based on science, some of that may be based on challenging components of the final EIR. Some of that may be political. You look at all of those and you see which way you can best accomplish what the goal is, which is to not have a tunnel under the high school. At the end of the day you have to do an assessment on how much it would cost and what your chances are to win. At that point you make a decision how much you’re willing to expend. We’re going to spend money on this but at the end of the day, if the court system rules against our wishes and in favor of Metro’s, if that ends up being under the high school, then you start to run out of options. The other issue here though is they don’t have federal funding yet. We’ll see if it happens. To throw away precious school dollars, building dollars, dollars for kids … for the city to spend precious dollars taking away from critical city services—because we’ve made a lot of cuts over the last few years, and any more cuts do affect city services—you’ve got to weigh that in terms of whether or not you even need to spend at all right now. Patch: What is the status of pension plans for city employees? Brien: With regards to pensions, some of it is actually negotiated; some of it is governed by state law through CalPERS and is controlled by the state Legislature. Some things that we might as a city want to change, and maybe even some of our colleagues in the different unions in the city might even agree to change, sometimes you can’t change it because state law trumps that and there’s legislative control over that. I do think that in general, in the state of California locally and in cities around Beverly Hills, people have looked and basically said the current pension structure over the long term is not sustainable for municipalities, for counties and for the state. I think that you have to have some pension reform, and that’s OK. The reality is we need to find, working with our unions, a way to … sustain pensions for our employees that are retired, our employees that are here today and employees that come in the future—in a way that doesn’t bankrupt the city in the next 20 or 30 or 40 years. A dollar saved today has a profound impact over 40 years’ time in the city. What can change going forward for people within [current pension plans] is contribution—the employee contribution can change. And that can impact them. If you take 1 percent employee contribution, where right now the city or municipality is providing all 9 percent of it, that in essence is a 1 percent decrease in [employee] take-home pay because they’re putting money towards their retirement. This interview has been edited and condensed. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . More here: Vice Mayor Talks JPA, Metro and Pensions

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said it will take days to clean up after what he called a “once in a generation” wind event, and he urged residents to stay indoors and brace for another night of strong winds. See the rest here: LA Mayor: Wind Cleanup Could Take Days